It is often said that in Hold'em "any two cards can win" and your initial two cards are the most important in determining if you win or lose. What is it that makes some cards better starting cards than others? Well, the truth is that some starting cards are more likely to develop into strong hands than others.

Of all the cards to start with high pairs are the best, and the higher the value of the cards the better. While starting out with a high pair is no guarantee of winning by starting out with a good pair, you are usually well ahead of the rest of the table.

Failing to get a good pair of cards to start with the next best starting cards are Aces with a suited face card. The best of these is the suited Ace-King. This combination has the potential to win four ways:

• If the flop turns up an Ace you have the top pair with the best "kicker" possible (the King).
• If the flop turns up a King you have the second highest pair with the best "kicker" (the Ace).
• Because the cards are suited, your ability to make a flush is improved, and if successful it will be the best flush possible.
• And finally. With cards close to one another in rank, you may be able to grow your hand into an ace high straight.

Suited face cards are another set of premium hole cards. These can potentially grow into both a flush and a straight, since the cards are close in rank and of the same suit. Any straights and flushes that develop will be better than most because they consist of face cards. Even if you only succeed in making a pair, both your pair and your kicker will consist of high value cards.

Other cards considered solid starting hands are Aces or Kings with an unsuited high card. These cards have the potential to become pairs with high value kickers, and because of their close ranking they can develop into straights.

By starting with a premium set of cards you are not guaranteed a win, poker isn't that simple, but it is a good place to start if you are interested in playing winning poker.

"Why is playing quality starting hands important?"
The simple answer: you greatly improve your chances of winning. By sticking to premium starting hands, you save yourself the agony of making a lot of tough decisions and reduce the chance of losing extra chips along the way.

For example:
In one hand we see a case of what can go wrong when playing Ace-anything. The flop can give you your Ace, but then your trouble starts.

Holding a premium hand (an Ace-King off-suit) the flop produced an Ace. I now had top pair (the Aces) with a high kicker (the King).

Another player raised indicating that my Ace wasn't the only one in the hole. But because I had such a strong kicker I felt confident in calling his raise.

Betting continued until the river card was played. When I turned over my Ace-King I had won, my Ace-King beating the Ace-8 of my opponent. The pot was mine.

By not having a premium hand, my opponent had left himself open to the possibility of being "out-kicked" for the top card. And the result was that's what happened.

When playing hands like Ace-8 you not only have to make your Ace you have to hope that you are the only person to make their Ace. The chance is always there that your kicker is not strong enough to out-kick an opponent who has a premium starting hand.

Pro's will sometimes play cards that are "off the chart" and win, but if you consistently play weak starting hands you will regularly come up against hands that exploit that weakness.

Another example where a premium hand helped win a pot came when both my opponent and I both had flushes. My opponent played two suited, but low ranking, cards. This left the possibility of his hand being beaten by a higher ranking flush.

This is exactly what happened. By playing a premium hand of Queen-Jack suited, I was able to outrank my opponent winning the pot.

Having a hand like (Ace or King)-anything or even two suited cards can look like a winning set of cards and can be tempting to play. If the flop gives you the required cards you will give you a good hand (and a flush is a good hand). However a low-ranking flush may be a good hand only if it's the only flush at the table.

If you are playing with less than premium starting hands you will have to ask yourself "Is my flush strong enough to take the pot?". You may find after betting and playing the hand that it isn't.